Water Grill - San Diego
In compliance with the current CDC Guidelines, we require all Guests to wear a face covering when entering the restaurant. Face coverings may be removed when sitting at your outdoor table.
Private Dining
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Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Mystic Oysters
(crassostrea virginica), noank, connecticut
17 reviews
Caramel Bread Pudding
with alaea red sea salt
6 reviews
Wild Eastern Sea Scallops
cauliflower puree, curried roasted cauliflower, pickled golden raisins, soy brown butter
5 reviews
Featured specials
Valentine's Day Special Menus & More
Enjoy Valentine's Day with your special person at Water Grill! Chef Peraza is preparing a very special 4-course menu. Highlights include Japanese A-5 Wagyu steak, Wild Brittany Dover Sole, Wild Local Spiny Lobster, and an abundance of our most popular dishes! $120 per person
Excellent steak, fries not a good sign. Service was quite slow, which is sad considering the shutdown and only a few tables near us. They did however apologize for the clams and removed them from the bill.
This has become a must-do destination every visit to San Diego. Today, I enjoyed the wild the Brittany Dover Sole, which was prepared perfectly in brown butter with an exquisite golden hue.
Ambiance was nice however due to the pandemic it was very little patriots however service took very long food in my opinion was undercooked and overpriced
Came from Boston for my girlfriends birthday and service made the experience. Expert advice on selections. Covid didn’t let us experience inside but the service and food quality was A1.
Staff was very accommodating and friendly. It was cold out so they brought us an extra heater. I split the burger and it is one of my favorite burgers that Ive had! All around good service and food.
Really fabulous service. Excellent quality ingredients. Spectacular
The service wasn’t that great today sadly, but everything else was good.
Food was Very Bland. Not one dish was I impress with.
Don’t usually write reviews, but the food and service was outstanding. Had a wonderful time and looking forward to returning.
From start to finish great experience!
Bob was an amazing server. A must eat in San Diego.
I typically have a great time at Water Grill - San Diego, and I would even still return/recommend friends. The food is always so fresh and outstanding. However, I was rather disappointed with the level of service we received this time. I made a reservation and noted it was a friend's birthday, but that was never acknowledged. In fact, it felt like we were being rushed out at the end as we were never given the opportunity to order dessert. We also brought our own wine (which Water Grill proudly advertises a $0 corkage fee), but the waiter had a change of tune when he noticed our own alcohol. He seemed less attentive to our table vs the tables around us, and kept trying to push cocktail drinks a few times - don't get me wrong I love cocktail drinks but I'm not going to want to mix tequila with wine. Normally, I wouldn't be too bothered by this on an "off night" but I felt bad that the birthday boy was subject to it on his day.
The crab with drawn butter was to die for!!!
Great atmosphere, service and especially the food
Our waiter didn’t come to our table as often as we liked
Which resulted in less drinks being ordered and a long wait for everyone
Went here twice in two days. Once for lunch and once for dinner. Great interior space and excellent service. When I went for lunch there were very few people and the food was impeccably prepared. Based solely on lunch I would have given WG a 5 on food rating but unfortunately when I went for dinner the next day the food wasn’t as good. The salmon was a little dry and the skin a little soggy. Every dish was very good but I think the dinner crowd had the kitchen pushing dishes out without the same level of attention to detail. I’d go back, but I’ll look for less busy time slots.
The food and service were great, but we made an 8:30pm reservation and had to wait outside to get seated until 9pm. A quick rating of our food order:
Oyster sampler - 5 stars - all were excellent
Filet mignon - 4 stars - little bland, but the chimichurri helped.
Local spiny lobster - 5 stars
Broccolini - 1 star - we sent this back. had a weird chemical flavor
Brussel sprouts - 5 stars - we got these to replace the broccolini
Wonderful food!! Try the lobster Mac and Cheese!
Amazing drinks , the oyster Rockefeller were the best and nice birthday celebration
Great food, great service, great time!
Food was great! Beautiful restaurant and they took great care of our large party
No frills, we were glad to have found a last minute reservation during Covid. Our waitress was very attentive and provided great service so the review is purely on food and value. Food was really subpar at best, crab cake were ok, not bad but I’ve definitely had much better for $23 (for one). The halibut was overcooked ($46) especially since it was in season and we were disappointing. The biggest save was their chocolate ganache dessert which was superb and their drinks (they were fantastic and had an extra kick). There are certainly better places food wise around the area, especially seafood, but I wouldn’t rule it out completely if you needed a last minute dinner spot also.
Every time we come to San Diego we have to come to our favorite restaurant! The service and food are amazing! You will find very happy people that love whet they do working here. Everyone is very helpful and the food tastes delicious everyone! :)
For starters, our server, Christa, was amazing. She gave us great suggestions. The food was outstanding. We look forward to having a wonderful dining experience there again. And by the way, great wine menu.
Had the special, Dover Sole. So delicious. Melted in my mouth. My birthday friend had the king crab legs, so full of meat!!!
Love everything about this restaurant. The service is great, the food is delicious and the drinks are so yummy!!!
Food was so delicious and our waiter, Bob, was amazing. He was so friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating. Cannot wait to go back again for another meal. Really love this place.
I went to Water Grill because of the good reviews, but ended up being very underwhelmed. The food was just okay for a $200 tab for two people for two drinks, two entrees and a shared side.
It was our first time to this restaurant my boyfriends and I and honestly we loved it, we had a great time, service was above and beyond. Def. recommend food was so delicious. 10/10 and we will def come back.
Waitress outstanding - Courtney. We sat by the window and had homeless walk right up to us with their head in the window begging money and food off our plate. We understand that during these times, everything thing is askew, but really feel a manager should prevent that from happening.
It was great experie
Great oysters attentive staff.
Donna was amazing
This is my favorite destination in downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. To wit: a perfectly charcoal grilled California spiny lobster. And, service is excellent without being intrusive.
Went for my birthday and everything was perfect! The food was amazing and the service was just as good! Megan was our server and she was attentive, friendly and overall helped our experience be as great as it was
Food was great. The only thing we regret is leaving Watergrill right before 10pm. We did not know, nor were told, that all restaurants are not allowed to seat new customers past 10pm. We would have stayed and had our drinks there instead.
Bob is the most awesome waiter ever. We had the best time!
Best dining experience we have had in awhile , amazing staff and delicious food !
Great service and spectacular spiny lobster, halibut and of course bread pudding!
First time there. Our server Tristan was fabulous! Engaging about my birthday, very knowledgeable about the menu & preparation. Loved that he shared his favorites & why. That Asiago bread is to die for! Dipping it in the sauce from my steamed clams was soooo delicious. My hubby loved his swordfish- cooked perfectly. The crab-cake appetizer was so moist & stuffed with crab only just enough breadcrumbs to hold it together. The sauce was delicious too- asked for extra. The dining room is slightly elevated & We sat near the windows & they swing open so you can get a feel of street life watching people walk by outside. It was delightful. Oh, my champagne cocktails were perfect choice for my birthday!
The ambiance in this place is outstanding. I have been here once before and it was much better so not sure what was going on this time. We made reservations got there on time and were sat immediately, this is where things went down hill. We waited about 15 - 20 minutes before anyone took our drink order. My wife had to go up to the manager and ask to be served. He came over and took our drink order and we got them quickly. Then we finally got water at our table, isn't that supposed to happen first. We waited some more and the manager came back to take our order. My wife, not being very hungry ordered clam chowder and salad, I ordered halibut. I thought it was odd the she got her soup before salad so when my meal came they gave her the salad. Food was good not great, much better my first time visiting. On a good note they comped us my cocktail and the chowder for having to wait so long. Its a bummer because this place has a great atmosphere but not sure we will be back.
FAQs
Water Grill - San Diego offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (619) 717-6992.
Water Grill - San Diego is rated 4.6 stars by 1415 OpenTable diners.
Water Grill - San Diego does offer gift cards which you can purchase here https://kingsseafood.securetree.com/.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.